Sizewell
Creative Residencies
Over three years a series of creative residencies will use visual art, poetry and writing to respond to the Sizewell C project.
The residencies will aim to use these different practices to respond to and document the project’s activity, and to aid reflection and discourse with local communities about this significant project in their midst.
Sizewell
The Sizewell nuclear site, located in the fishing village of Sizewell is made up of two nuclear power stations: Sizewell A which is being decommissioned and Sizewell B. Sizewell C is planned for twinned nuclear reactors.
The history of Sizewell as a nuclear site goes back to 1958 when the first plans were laid out, with Sizewell A’s two units completed and officially opened in 1967. Commissioning for Sizewell B began in 1987. It was the subject of a three-year public inquiry, which sat for 340 days examining the issues around a second station on the Sizewell coast. The commission found in favour of building Sizewell B and it was fully commissioned and synchronised with the national grid in 1995. Many local people were employed in the construction of Sizewell B and recall the excitement of being involved, whilst others stood opposed to nuclear energy and particularly nuclear energy on the Suffolk coast.
Creative Residencies
This programme of residencies looks for creative and collaborative practitioners whose practice includes connecting with people and communities through culture and conversation.
Sizewell C has appointed an artist in residence at its Suffolk construction site – the first appointment of a unique three-year programme of creative residencies, in partnership with First Light Festival CIC.
Suffolk-based artist Les Bicknell, currently a Senior Lecturer at Norwich University of the Arts and a teaching fellow at King's College, London, was selected for the twelve-month residency after a highly competitive selection process, which was open to artists who live or work in the East of England.
His work has been exhibited widely and is held in many national and international collections including The Rijksmuseum, The V&A Museum, M.O.M.A. New York, Yale Centre for British Art, The Tate Gallery.
As well as creating original artwork, the residency will look to engage the Sizewell C workforce and local community, sharing creative processes and fostering discussions around the project, the local environment, and the community.
In the ensuing decades people have become familiar with the striking white dome of the Sizewell B reactor – which has become a feature of the county’s coastline, the backdrop for music performances as well as theatre and visual art commissions.
As with Sizewell B, plans for Sizewell C have been the subject of much interrogation, and as in the 1980s and 90s, there are many voices that speak for and against nuclear power in Suffolk.
